Partygate ‘hasn’t gone away’, senior Tory MP warns Boris Johnson

Mark Harper says PM will be ‘judged’ once Met police and Sue Gray report

Senior Conservative MP Mark Harper has warned Boris Johnson that partygate “hasn’t gone away” – saying the prime minister would still be “judged” in the weeks ahead.

Tory MPs have gone quiet over Covid gatherings during the Ukraine crisis, with some former rebels even withdrawing letters of no confidence in the prime minister.

However, the former Tory chief whip said serious questions would still be asked when the Metropolitan Police probe concludes and the full Sue Gray report comes out.

“I’ve been very clear on the issues around how Downing Street have dealt with the so-called partygate,” Mr Harper told Sky News. “The prime minister wants us to judge him on the facts.”

The Tory MP said: “I’ll wait for the conclusion of the Metropolitan Police criminal investigation, which is ongoing, and the full Sue Gray report when she completes that and that’s published, but that’s a judgment, I think, for another day.”

The senior backbencher added: “So, partygate hasn’t gone away but it’s not for today, it’s for a day in the future when the Met’s finished its inquiry and the Sue Gray report is published.”

It comes as Scotland Yard detectives begin interviewing key witnesses in the Partygate scandal which rocked Mr Johnson’s premiership – seven weeks on from start of the investigation.

The Met police announced on Monday an expansion of the investigation, revealing that over 100 questionnaires have now been sent out to No 10 and Whitehall staff asking them about gatherings.

The Independent understands that Mr Johnson, who returned his questionnaire to police last month, has not been called for an interview.

Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross and backbench MP Andrew Bridgen are among the ex-rebels to have withdrawn letters of no confidence in the prime minister due to the seriousness of the Ukraine crisis.

And cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg recently waved away concerns over parties in No 10 during lockdown as “fluff” and “fundamentally trivial”.

Meanwhile, Mr Harper has defended a hike in national insurance as a way to put money into the NHS and social care ahead of chancellor Rishi Sunak’s spring statement.

“If you’re going to say you’re against the national insurance rise taking place either this year or in the future, you’ve got to say whether you’re prepared to not put that money into the health service or social care, or come up with some other way to pay for it.”

Mr Sunak is expected to cut fuel duty and it has been suggested that he could also raise the income threshold at which people begin to pay national insurance.

The Financial Times reported on Tuesday evening that forecasts in the statement will show the deficit is better than expected this year, to the tune of £20bn.

Despite calls from Tory MPs to use the “fiscal headroom” on more support, the newspaper said Mr Sunak is planning to set aside a large part of this windfall cash – rather than investing the full sum in driving down the cost of living.

Andy Street, the influential Tory mayor of the West Midlands, said that he hopes chancellor Rishi Sunak will consider increasing the threshold for income tax and National Insurance.

Mr Street also told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he wanted a signal from the chancellor of more help with energy bills set to rise in April and again in October.

“I would hope that he will actually say for October, when the next price cap comes, there will be a further move and I hope it will be targeted, particularly through the Warm Homes Discount.”